Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Alpha
by wingsonwords
Summary: Cosmic Era 71: The resource satellite Heliopolis is attacked by ZAFT forces, thrusting a young civilian named Kira Yamato into the cockpit of a prototype mobile suit. Joining the intrepid crew of the Earth Alliance's new ship, the Archangel, the young soldiers must fight to survive as the war pushes them to their limit, revealing the heroes and the villains among them.
1. Phase 01: Monsters of the Battlefield

**Authors Note: Greetings to all my readers! Thank you so much for clicking on this story! I don't like long author's notes on the first chapter, but there will be another at the bottom of this page. A little bit about Alpha: This is a rewrite of Gundam Seed, with new characters…some different events, but following a track that may seem familiar…**

**I will explain more at the bottom. Thank you again for reading!**

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><p><em>Over half a century has passed since mankind has immigrated to space as a result of overpopulation, currently there are hundreds of massive space colonies floating around the Earth. People dwell in these artificial lands, treating it as a second home to live, love, bare children, and die…<em>

_Cosmic Era 71: Tensions between the Earth Alliance and the ZAFT organization escalate to an all-out war due to the Bloody Valentine tragedy. It was predicted that the Earth Forces with their superior numbers would quickly be victorious…however, the introduction of humanoid war machines, called mobile suits, changed that assessment. These monsters of the battlefield were created by the PLANTs, due to them being populated by genetically enhanced humans called coordinators. Nine months have passed since the conflict began...with no end in sight._

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><p><strong>Phase 1:<strong> Monsters of the Battlefield

**Orb Airspace: Heliopolis **

Beyond Earth and the moon is a resource satellite called Heliopolis. Although calling it a satellite would deeply underscore the structure's size and beauty. Heliopolis is a space colony that was owned by the Orb Union, a neutral nation in the conflict between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. It was here that civilians, wanting to get away from the horrors of war, would take refuge.

Yet beyond the space colony, something was moving.

It was human shaped, but massive and metallic. With a single Cyclops eye that glowed red. It was a GINN, one of ZAFT's mobile suits and a center piece of all the ZAFT forces. But there was more than just one, there were six GINN's and in the middle they were escorting a small stealth craft, full of ZAFT soldiers…all heading for the colony.

They moved silently, adrift in space, power levels turned down to an absolute minimum and allowing for their inertia to carry them forward to the colony. This alone wouldn't be enough to get them into the colony undetected, they had inside help. Someone had turned off the sensors in the area they were gliding to…but who knew if their luck would hold?

It lasted long enough, as the GINN's touched down on the colony, right over an access hatch with a massive NO ACCESS painted on the top. The stealth ship also stopped and opened. The space suited soldiers poured out, dividing into squads and dove down a smaller hatch, deactivating sensors as they went.

Miguel Aimon let out a breath. He was tall, with blond hair and a cool, almost arrogant demeanor. _So far so good_, he thought to himself as he knelt his mobile suit down and began hacking into the access hatch. Over their tight range communications, he heard one of his fellow pilots (Matthew) shoot a wise-crack at another named Grace, who quickly responded with an insult. Miguel tuned them out, both should know better than talking during a mission, especially when he stressed radio silence! But then it wasn't like the pathetic naturals would even detect it…

Suddenly his terminal bleeped as he gained access to the hatch. Smiling to himself, Miguel opened the doors. Record hacking time. _Let's see the red coats do that!_

He motioned for his comrades to follow him with a downward movement of his GINN's arm and they all headed into Heliopolis.

"Miguel," a fellow pilot called, "There is a siren going off!"

"Calm down Olar. It's on the other side of the barrier. A ship just docked at the bay."

"Do you think it is the ship we followed?" Olar asked.

"That's very likely…" Miguel muttered.

The GINN's dove deeper into breach.

-**Heliopolis: Port**

The cargo ship _Dauntless_ eased into port. Its engines glowing bright red on its final thrust, entering the colony. The Earth Alliance forces in the port watched the ship pass by, some commented on the old design and how it was a miracle it reached the colony unharmed, but there was little danger of that. The transport was a _Marseille III_class and although owned by the Earth Alliance, a majority of the ships were used by civilians, meaning that ZAFT was not likely for attacking ships of its class.

Inside the _Dauntless_, an elderly man was getting dressed. Over sixty, the man looked like he could have slept another six hours and would still need more sleep; yet, he moved with an energy that was very unlike a man of his age. The door to his room opened and in stepped a young woman. "Dr. Kato, we've made port at Heliopolis, sir. The Captain would like to see you. Would you please come to the bridge?"

Dr. Jim Kato nodded and pulled one of his arms through a suit jacket. "Yes, of course. Ensign Badgiruel, was it? Have you been on supply duty long?"

Natarle Badgiruel , her purple eyes shaded by her short black hair, shook her head, "No, sir! I used to be on the front."

Kato pulled a wrinkled tie out of his pocket and began tying it around his neck. "Well, this ship has a crucial mission. Not unlike being at the front, I think."

Badgiruel simply nodded, but she suddenly distracted by a picture on Kato's desk. It was a photo of the doctor standing next to a tall beautiful woman and five young teenagers clustered around them. "Is this your family, sir?"

Kato finished fiddling with his tie. "Hmm? Oh!" He laughed, "Never married I'm afraid. That is just my assistant and some students I have helping me around the college."

He turned towards the door. "Those teenagers are just over fifteen…next to a smart young woman like yourself, they are still children." Badgiruel followed as they glided towards the elevator that would take them to the bridge. "Though I hear that children that young are being drafted by both sides these days…"

"They are."

"Terrible."

They were in the elevator now, heading towards the bridge. "Although…" Kato's eyes narrowed, "Once we start mass-producing the G-Weapons, this war will be over. We can put an end to it without wasting young lives."

The doors opened and the two stepped out unto the bridge. The captain, Hendrik Tallee, was middle aged man who wore an old style military hat to cover his receding hair-line. Despite his age, he had a vibrant blond mustache that refused to grey. It survivability was tied to the man, soldiers said. Captain Tallee had seen many battlefields and gotten himself and his crew through every one.

He smiled at Dr. Kato, "I do hope you got some rest."

"Yes, thank you. It's been a relaxing flight."

Tallee nodded, "That's good to hear. An old man like you needs his rest."

"Look who is talking." Kato smiled and stared out the view screen, "And what about the ZAFT ships? The two that tailed us here?"

"So you noticed?" Kato said grimly.

"Well…" Tallee's hands tapped some buttons on his chair and a side screen on the bridge lite up. It was hard to tell, but the silhouettes of two green ZAFT warships could be seen. "They are staying just outside Heliopolis's airspace."

"A Nazca and Laurasia class." Badgiruel chipped in, "Because of the treaty, military ships are not allowed to dock at Heliopolis." No one commented on the irony of that statement, given the military weapons that were being produced in the colony.

"So the problem is the return flight." Kato muttered. "Do you think they'll try anything?"

Natarle looked nervously at Tallee, whom was pondering the question. "Hmm. Well, this is a civilian supply ship. If they are daring enough to attack us…I guess we will have to trust the Archangel, the Heliopolis Defense Force, and Zero Squadron."

**-Heliopolis: Residential District**

Miriallia Haw frowned as she looked up at the Yamato house, specifically Kira's room. The blinds were drawn and the light was off. The house itself was quiet, probably because both Mom and Dad Yamato were off at work…meaning that Kira probably forgot what day it was again.

"KIRA!" Mir called up at the window. It was the second day in a row that Kira was not at school and it wasn't because he was sick (Kira never got sick). Her boyfriend, Tolle Koenig was no help, saying that he probably was just busy with work that Professor Kato gave him before he left and there was "nothing to worry about."

"But that is part of the problem Tolle!" Mir had replied, shaking his comforting arm off her shoulder. They were in their high-school cafeteria; it was loud, filled with students who were happy to have a brief 30 minute reprieve from learning about things they did not care about.

"If he is forgetting about school, he will probably forget about eating, sleeping, meeting Seis, and on and on and on!"

Tolle looked down at his lunch; it was what could generously be called chicken. "Well…"

Tolle was carefree to a fault. _Yet, that is what I like about him_, Mir thought as she waited for any movement in the house. There was none.

"Plan B it is…" Mir strolled confidently forward and turned the front door's knob. It was open.

Mir was far from surprised about this, obviously it was Kira's job to lock the place up after he left for school, since he had clearly not gone to school the door had remained unlocked.

The brown haired highschool student walked quietly in and closed the door behind her. Heading into the kitchen she saw a plate with a napkin draped over the top. "Yep. He hasn't even eaten yet…" Mir headed upstairs.

"Kira!" She said opening the door and walking inside. Her blue eyes narrowed at the sudden change of lighting. It was dark with only the blue glow of a computer screen facing the entrance.

"Birdy!" The green bird flew happily down on the girl's shoulder. Tweeting shrilly and hoping around Mir's shoulder, almost as if it was saying, "I know it doesn't look good, but forgive him!" Mir tapped the robotic bird on the head gently.

"Kira…what do you think you are doing?"

Kira Yamato turned, blinking at Mir sleepily. "Oh Mir…hey! What's up?" He went back to typing on his computer screen.

Mir walked over to the computer chair and looked at the complicated schematics Kira was poring over.

"Kira, do you know what day it is?"

Kira, only half-listening, took a moment to respond, "Huh? Oh…ummm…Sunday probably."

Wrong, guess again. "What are you working on?"

"Just finishing the last bit of what Professor Kato and Seis gave me."

"When did you start this?"

Kira shrugged, fingers flying across the keyboard. "Saturday morning."

Mir grabbed Kira's chair's arm and swung it to face her. She put on her best stern face. Kira blinked up at her, but his attention was already going back towards the screen. "Kira. It is not Sunday. It is Tuesday. You have missed school twice now and you are going to be late for your evening meeting with Seis at this rate."

Kira gave her a confused look, "Wait…what?"

20 minutes later (after Kira took a much needed shower) he was sitting down in the kitchen as Mir buttered some toast for her friend. "Honestly Kira, if they give you too much work. Tell them so! It is not like they are even paying you for this and I know they are NOT working Kuzzey, Sai, and Tolle this hard…" She placed the bread in front of Kira. Noting that despite him staying up without sleep for three days, he looked only mildly sleepy.

"But I can do it! The work isn't due until next week anyway. I just lost track of time." Kira munched away as he spoke.

Mir sighed, "What are you even working on?"

"Some kind of Operating System, the kind I have never seen before. They wanted me to simplify it."

"Kira, you need to learn to say no to these people. I feel like they are using you…" Mir headed for the door. "This work is NOT worth the letter of recommendation."

Kira, finishing the toast with gusto, stood up and followed Mir outside. "Yeah, but it could lead to a job in the future."

"Could Kira! COULD! If they know they can keep using your abilities for free…why would they ever hire-

"Hey guys!" A voice called from in front of the house. It was Kuzzey Buskirk, a short, dark haired teenager who lived next door to Kira. "Kuzzey!" Mir ran quickly forward and glared down at him. "You should be ashamed! You live next to Kira for crying out loud! It would take you 10 minutes to make sure he came to school!"

Kuzzey glanced behind Mir to see if Kira was out of ear shot before he whispered quickly, "Look it is hard enough for me to get up on time. He is a coordinator. It should be the other way around."

"What does-"

Kuzzey shook his head and turned away. "I don't want to hear his lecture again! I am gonna head inside. You guys better hurry or you will be late."

Suddenly an automatic car pulled up to the station in front of Kira's house. "I called that for you! You should thank me!" Kuzzey said with a grin before heading inside.

Kira smiled as he walked up next to me Mir. "Thanks Kuzzey!"

Kuzzey waved back and disappeared inside his house.

"Don't thank him…" Mir grumbled.

"What did you say?"

"I said, 'get in the car!' C'mon!" Together they boarded the vehicle. Kira quickly inputted the Morgenroete Research College location and away they sped, unaware that in less than two hours, their lives would forever change.

- **Heliopolis: Service Tunnel**

Miguel raised his GINN's hand, signaling the five suits behind him to stop.

"Alright this is where we split up. Rusty, Athrun, and the others should be setting up the charges if everything is going to schedule. Olar, take Tomas and Mine to the testing grounds and use that to enter the factory from behind. Even if they are moving their G-Weapons, they probably will be unable to move everything to the ship at once. Seize the weapons and wait for the red coats to show up to move them." Saying that last part a pissed Miguel off more than he would ever admit; Athrun, Nicol, and Rusty were okay, but Yzak and Dearka looking down on those were not given the distinction of wearing red rubbed Miguel the wrong way. But they were on a mission and such petty feelings should be shelved. "Matthew, Grace, you guys are on me."

"Miguel. If we encounter any active G-Weapons, what are your orders? Should we destroy them?" It was Mine, a female pilot on Olar's team that had poised the question.

"If your lives are in jeopardy, do whatever you have to do. However, our mission is reconnaissance until the charges go off; do NOT do anything beforehand that could ruin the mission. Is that understood?"

Multiple affirmatives filled the radio as the GINN's broke up into two different groups.

Miguel led his two subordinates forward until they reached the large access hatch that lead to the colony interior. The corridor they followed was the tunnel the colony builders had used when Heliopolis was first constructed, meaning that the hatch led into a forest that was off limits to the public due to risk of leakage out the old hatch.

They stopped before the massive door. "Grace, stay here; if something happens and the mission goes to shit, escape and give a report to Commander Creuset. Matthew, come with me."

"Roger." Grace responded and despite the short response, Miguel could tell she was annoyed at being left out of the action. Honestly it couldn't be helped, part of the reason he selected both Matthew and Grace to follow him was to keep an eye on the two pilots. Neither got along and Miguel had every intention from the beginning to set Grace up as the one who would be their fail-safe.

Miguel raised his GINN's hand and active the wielder in the index finger. He began melting through the hatch. Everything was on schedule.

**-Heliopolis: Morgenroete Factory District**

The place was buzzing with activity. Lieutenant Murrue Ramius gave the last minute orders to her subordinates. Even though she was the highest ranking officer on site, there were a few troublemakers who saluted with pickup lines and catcalls.

"Lieutenant!" She turned to find Petty Officer Murdoch, one of the primary mechanics, sticking his head out the window of one of the several trucks parked off to the side. "We've finished our work here. If it's all right, we'll go on ahead to the ship."

Murrue nodded. "That'll be fine, excellent work." She waved as two trucks pulled away and disappeared around a corner.

"Hey Lieutenant, what do you say you treat us all to drinks later? After all, it's our last day here at Heliopolis!" One of the young officers, Petty Officer Hamana, called.

She cocked a brow. Immediately the officer sheepishly averted his attention and went back to work. Several other officers chuckled at the exchange. Murrue brushed a lock of her chestnut hair from her face and looked around. Everyone was indeed in high spirits, she knew, what with the operation drawing to a close. They only now had to load the new weapons onto the Archangel and their work would be completely finished. A voice inside her head spoke up, slyly commenting on how she was secretly relieved to have the burden of command taken off her shoulders. Murrue smiled to herself, picking up a left over tool-bag from the ground and placed it on the back of a truck. If she was being honest? Yes, she was very please.

-**Outside Heliopolis Airspace**

On the bridge of the Nazca-class ship, _Vesalius_, Captain Ades watched the silent colony with narrowed eyes. "Are you sure we should proceed without the Council's approval?" Commander Rau Le Creuset was the man the captain was speaking to; known to enemies and allies alike for his ferocious fighting abilities, his face was concealed by a mask, giving him an enigmatic aura.

Le Creuset looked over to Ades. "Patrick Zala gave us his personal approval." He answered, "Should there be any problems with the Council, he'll take responsibility. Besides, the operation is already in motion. What we must focus on now is what is happening inside that colony." He gazed upon a fuzzy photo of what appeared to be a mobile suit. "My intuition tells me that if we don't act now, we'll come to regret it later."

**-Heliopolis: Location Classified**

Olar's team emerged from the long tunnel into a large, rocky plane. They had been steadily rising out of the tunnel for the last few minutes, until they finally reached what appeared to be long trench that stretched out to what appeared to be a rundown construction zone. The whole area was surrounded by a dark curved wall that rose up to almost encircle the sky. It was like they were inside a stadium.

"Finally!" Mine said, her sharp high-pitched voice stinging Olar's ears. Mine was unusual by coordinator standards: she had bright blue hair and grey eyes, which in itself, wasn't strange in the PLANTs; however, her parents had seen fit to tamper with her vocal cords giving her a sing-song voice in person, but a real pain to hear over the radio.

"If that tunnel went on any longer, I would lose my freaking mind. Olar, where are we?"

Olar turned his GINN's eye towards her. "Not exactly sure, the schematics gave me the distance of that junction, not where it would lead; although it appears to be an area that needs repairs."

Tomas, always quiet and well mannered, pointed his GINN's arm up. "It is far more likely this is a testing zone for military weapons. Look, an observation tower off in the distance." The dark shape of the aforementioned tower stood in sharp contrast to the rocky, shapeless hills that surrounded them. "And these walls appear to be bullet proof."

"Whatever this place is, we have a mission to complete. Everyone on me." Olar moved his GINN forward, turning the lights located on his mobile suit's body to guide the way. Mine and Tomas followed a few paces behind. They moved in silence for several seconds when Tomas stopped.

"Olar, look." Olar turned his lights on Tomas and followed the direction his comrade was pointing. His lights came upon the unmistakable form of a GINN mobile suit only it was missing its head fin, painted white, and was blasted in half.

"A proto-GINN?" Olar moved forward towards the destroyed suit.

"Yes." Tomas said, "It looks like it was destroyed by some thermal weapon."

"Guys…" They both turned their suits towards Mine who using her lights on a hill they walked past. "There are more…" The slope was filled with countless remains of proto-GINN mobile suits. Arms, legs, destroy torsos; the hill was made of metal and scrape.

"Did they use these things for target practice?" Olar wondered aloud. "The G-Weapons must have done this…"

"This is crazy." Mine said, moving close the hill. "It's like a graveyard of old ZAFT technology. Creepy!" She started moving around the hill, "Are all the hills like this…?"

"Interesting," Tomas was examining the remains of the first proto-GINN. "This thermal technology is impressive. I would say it is far beyond our own."

Olar let out a low whistle, this was interesting to say the least, but they were falling behind. "So this is the Earth Force's new weapon. All the more reason we need to capture-"

"OLAR! ITS AN ENEMY!" Mine's voice cut through the radio like knife, suddenly the air was filled with gunfire.

"I'm under attack! Shit! SHIT!"

"We're on our way! Tomas, on me!" Olar rocketed his GINN towards where the flashes of gunfire could be seen in the darkness.

Mine strafed left, avoiding the approaching enemy's rounds and returned fire with her rifle. The dark shape caught the attack on its shield. Suddenly Olar and Tomas were right beside her, both unloading their 76mm heavy machine guns at the target. The enemy did not last long: shredded by the combined attack, it detonated in a brilliant flash of light.

"Thanks, gu-" A green beam suddenly pierced the center of Mine's GINN. Slicing through the reactor block and the cockpit, the suit blasted apart. The pilot died instantly. Suddenly more beams poured in from four different angles, one blast taking Olar's GINNs left arm.

"I thought the G-Weapons weren't here? WHY AREN'T THEY IN THE FACTORY?!" Tomas shrieked, for the first time since Olar knew him, losing his cool.

Olar blasted his GINN's thrusters, sending him high into the air. "What is GOING ON?!"

Inside the cockpit of one of the four machines that were still attacking the ZAFT GINNs, Grey Sazabi bit his lip. He was a young pilot, with dark brown hair, blue eyes and high eyebrows that came together, giving him the look of being very focused all the time. "Commander Roland…" The man had heroically sacrificed himself to reveal the enemy position and to light up the battlefield when he and the MBF-P05 Gundam Astray Unit 5 "Silver Frame" had attacked the enemy's position.

Built in secret and tested in this area. The Astray units were used exclusively by the Orb Union, a benefit to having the Earth Forces build mobile suits and a warship in the neutral colony. They did not possess the same Phase-Shift armor as the G-Weapons and their OS was in the same rough shape as the EA mobile suits, but these suits were built with the material they had on hand and with immediate mass-production in mind.

They were conducting a final test when the observation tower caught the three GINNs on the infrared sensor, going up against three ZAFT units was suicide with the OS the Astrays used, but ZAFT had to be stopped. The pilots had to buy time while the people in charge found a way to inform the Earth Forces stationed on Heliopolis without revealing the truth about the Astray models.

Thus the brave Captain Roland proposed that the Red, Blue, Gold, and Green frame surround the enemy while he drew their fire. If all three focused on him and if all were caught by surprise they could wipe out the invaders without any casualties…well…except for one.

All the pilots knew that Commander Roland was probably going to die if he did this, but they all accepted his order silently. They respected the battle-hardened veteran and had worked with him long enough to know not to argue when he gave orders. For months they had trained under Roland, becoming the man's arms and legs in combat. They were a unit, a team, and comrades. The Commander wanted to give them a chance by putting his life at stake, what more needed to be said? However…

Grey, the pilot of the Red Frame, glared up at the GINN that had rocketed into the sky. The ambush had already failed. It would not take long for coordinators to realize that the Orb suits could barely move, let alone get into an elongated battle with the swift enemy machines.

Grey narrowed his brown eyes as the GINN pointed its rifle his way. Nevertheless, they were taking every single one down with them!

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><p><strong>Author's note: And that was Gundam Seed Alpha Phase 1! To the knowledgeable Gundam fan out there, you will see that it is based off Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin Manga. Obviously with several changes, different characters, and rearranged events…but the idea of doing a more fleshed out story of Gundam Seed, following some plot points of the always fantastic Origin intrigued me! Thus I decided just to do it!<strong>

**So come along on this adventure! It is going to be fun! And yes, the Astray's are in this series…for how long? Find out!**

**Please rate, review, ect! I know it is a tired thing to say, but it really does help us writers in furthering the story…**


	2. Phase 02: A False Peace

**Author's Note: Not a lot of Kira or Athrun in the first chapter right? Well, keep in mind that Monsters of the Battlefield was an introduction and you will be seeing more of them in the future (this chapter for example!). **

**On that note, if there is a character you like who is missing from the story, do NOT take this to mean that they will never show up. They will! Trust me! **

**Big thank you to those who reviewed, seriously…you shortened the amount of time it took for this chapter to come out. ****As always, there will be an author's note at the bottom! See you down there!**

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><p><em>Over half a century has passed since mankind has immigrated to space as a result of overpopulation, currently there are hundreds of massive space colonies floating around the Earth. People dwell in these artificial lands, treating it as a second home to live, love, bare children, and die…<em>

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><p><strong>Phase 2: <strong>A False Peace

**Heliopolis: Astray Testing Grounds, Control Tower**

"What exactly should we do?!" Director Sugo Hiroto slammed his fist against the glass pane that faced out towards the testing grounds. "How exactly did ZAFT get here?!"

His aid, Pricilla Drascull, walked up next to him, stowing her cell phone in her pocket. "I just called a contact to check on Vice Foreign Minister Allster, the Alliance has not moved."

If Sugo heard her, he did not act like it. Cursing loudly, the balding man slammed his fist against the glass again and again. "Roland you idiot…you bastard. A 'soldier's duty' my ass! Sacrificing yourself so you don't have to take responsibility for this catastrophe, this project is ruined! Dammit! Shit, shit, shit, shit…"

"Sir, if the Astray's destroy the ZAFT intruders-" Pricilla was stopped by Sugo raising a fist and stabbing a finger right in front of her face.

"Don't feed me that bullshit! Everyone in this control room knows that the Astray's are probably scape the moment ZAFT gets over the initial kick-to-the-balls."

Sugo whirled to face Pricilla, his face red, eyes blazing, "The most we can hope for is containment! Maybe by some miracle they will win or maybe they'll kill each other. Either way, I refuse to let some goddamn coordinators ruin this project." The older man turned his eyes on the rest of the control room. "We do nothing until the battle is over! We contact NO ONE! We say NOTHING to the ALLIANCE! UNDERSTOOD?!"

There were murmurers of confusion around the tower. Several Orb officers looked nervously at each other, but no one tried to dissent the order. Sugu was not a member of the military; he was the chief financier to this project and on the first day he had made it very clear that he could make sure none of them worked again if they disobeyed his orders. Only the now deceased Commander Roland could have stood up to the whirlwind that was Sugu, now that balance was broken.

Sugu's eyes were focused on the flashes of light in the distance. _Roland…_ Sugu thought bitterly, _you always so noble and focused on protecting Orb, the Athha family, and your subordinates. And look where that got you! _Sugu might have hated the man for being so damn virtuous, but he was a great commander. _Maybe, just maybe…those arrogant pilots of his can force ZAFT to retreat._

Sugu had to put his trust on Roland's legacy and that, above everything else, made him more pissed off.

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><p>Olar aimed down at the attacked mobile suits with his heavy machine gun, he might have lost his machine's left arm, but he could still aim with only a minor decrease in accuracy. The enemies who surprised attacked them and killed Mine were shaped a lot like the G-Weapons; same double eyes, V-fin, but the first target went down far easier than targets which were supposed to have Phase Shift Armor…<p>

_Meaning that we can still win,_ Olar thought as he opened fire at a gold painted enemy, which was targeting the floundering Tomas. His rounds slammed in front of the target, ripping its rifle in half. The ZAFT pilot held the trigger down and pulled his gun up, intending to drag his shots along the body of the enemy, when another green beam lanced upward and took his rifle. The heavy machine gun exploded, slamming Olar back in his seat and knocking his GINN out of the air.

He spun his GINN around and drew his sword, rocketing down towards the targets. More green bolts lanced towards him, one taking off the top of his GINN's right foot. _They are slow at aiming. Are they amateurs?_ Olar closed on the nearest suit, the gold one again, and swung his sword down vertically; no doubt the gold suit would dodge but he was prepar-

Much to Olar's surprise, the blade struck home, severing the gold enemy's right arm off. Olar blinked but, not intending to look a gift horse in the mouth, spun and kicked the gold suit in the chest; sending it to the ground. _Slow…so slow…_

Another mobile suit (this one was painted green) approached; it ran clumsily forward, shooting its rifle in one hand. It wasn't even moving with its shield up, it just hung loosely at its side! Olar dodged the beams easily and accelerated forward, stabbing the Green Frame in the chest where he guessed the cockpit was located. A grim smile started to form on the ZAFT pilot's face. _Their OS…it is incomplete…_

"Tomas!" Olar flew back as the enemy that was painted blue started firing rapidly at him. "Go and destroy that control tower. I don't want them calling for help!"

Tomas, who was pinned down by the red painted mobile suit behind a hill of debris, sounded shocked, "Y-you sure?"

Olar grinned, "Yeah." These naturals were about to learn the hard way that the cockpit of a mobile suit was no place for them. This would be payback for Mine.

Grey Sazabi, the pilot of the Red Frame, snarled as the GINN that was hiding behind the debris hill sprinted out from cover and flew into the air. The targeting computer took WAY too long to aim! By the time it calculating distance, placement, and terrain, the target was gone! He fired anyway, grazing one of the legs instead of piercing the torso. _Where is it going?_

"Grey!" The voice of the Blue Frame pilot, Zambia, was fearful. "I need help here!" Grey whirled his Red Frame towards his comrade.

Things were going from bad to worse. Shino was dead, turned into red paste when his Green Frame was stabbed right in the cockpit. Shino, the worst pilot of the group, was always struggling to control his Green Frame, but he was a sound thinker and the best strategist next to Roland. Now, he would never think again…

Grey heard Zambia curse as the one-armed GINN accelerated directly at him; it would take too long for Grey to aim!

"Zambia!" It was the pilot of the Gold Frame, Wendy, her machine sparking from where its right arm used to be, charged forward, dropping its shield and grabbing a beam saber from backpack. However, she didn't get there, the sparking stump of the right arm flashed and exploded, tripping Wendy and knocking her Astray forward and off its feet.

Her movement seemed to distract the one-armed GINN for a half-a-second, allowing Zambia to move his shield in the way of the enemy's sword, blocking it.

"Surprise!" Zambia growled and fired his head mounted "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS right into the GINN's face, tearing into the mono-eye and shattering the camera. Dropping his rifle, Zambia drew his beam saber and lunged forward.

* * *

><p>"Someone contact the Earth Alliance, now!" Pricilla screamed, but it was too late. The GINN was right on top of them! The calls for evacuation were mixed with the Orb soldier's panicked voices as several tried to leave their post, others tried to stop them, while a chosen few resolutely held their ground. All the while, Sugu was yelling until his face was red, demanding that they 'remain calm' and that the Astray's would 'take care' of the attacking enemies.<p>

But all the noise turned into screams as a GINN rocketed up to the top of the tower, aiming its rifle right at the window that Sugu was ponding just moments before.

Pricilla froze, she could not move, think, or breathe. The rifle was everything. The GINN's rounds tore through the tower, blasting it apart and killing everyone inside.

Tomas kept firing as his GINN descended, destroying all structural supports and any soldiers who had managed to get out of the control room. It looked like there were still many inside. _That was the problem of being neutral, _Tomas mused, _your army's soldiers are inexperienced and have no sense except the will to survive and even that could be tempered with orders._ The tower splintered and fell in a metal heap. Tomas turned his GINN around, he was breathing hard but he had calmed down.

* * *

><p>"The hell is THIS?" Olar growled as the bright blade the blue mobile held sliced his GINN's sword in half. Losing his main camera had put Olar off balance, but the slow movements of the enemy had given him the opportunity to activate his secondary camera and block the attack instead of getting cut in half. The Blue Frame fired its head cannons again, bouncing and scaring Olar's armor.<p>

"Go DOWN!" Olar slammed his GINN's body into the blue foe, knocking it to the ground. Olar spun his GINN around to face a charging Gold Frame. It had activated its beam saber and was back on its feet.

Without a right arm there was major gap in its defense. It was time for Olar to finish what he started! The ZAFT pilot might only have half a sword, but that would be enough once he got close. Olar sped towards the attacker and grinned as it stabbed its beam saber forward. _The most obvious move,_ Olar thought, yet he couldn't fault the pilot. Given their limited OS, it was probably the best attack the enemy mobile suit could make.

Olar dodged the saber and brought his sword in an arc towards the center of the Gold Frame's torso, intending to bisect it... Without warning, a green beam flew down from the sky, slicing off Olar's GINNs remaining arm.

"Wha-" Olar stopped in mid-sentence as his secondary camera picked up the hovering image of the Red Frame. It was still looking down the scope of its beam rifle. This image was the last thing Olar ever saw, as the Gold Frame pivoted and sliced his GINN in half, incinerating the cockpit and the coordinator inside.

In the hovering Red Frame, Grey let out a breath, it had worked. The enemy had clearly underestimated their ability and thought they could only do very limited things with their OS, which was true, but the trick was using that to their advantage. The enemy would obviously attack the angle the Wendy was weakest at, thus all Grey had to do with aim at that exact point and fire once the enemy came into range. His timing was off, he originally planned to take the suit out with one shot, but Wendy had made up for his mistake.

"Nice work you guys," Zambia was standing his Astray back up. Despite some damaged armor plating, Grey was happy to see that Zambia was fine.

"It was nothing." Grey said, shrugging off the complement and turning towards Wendy, "Sorry I missed that shot."

Wendy did not respond immediately, when she did her voice was shaky, "Boys…the tower, its falling."

Grey and Zambia all looked in the direction of the tower as the burning remains crashed into the ground, kicking up dust in the dimly lit testing range. "Don't let your guard down!" Zambia called out, raising his shield back up to a defensive position. "There's one more and I doubt he will be happy now his buddy is dead.

"Wendy, stay behind me until we see the target. You are easy pickings without a shield." Grey ordered.

"Grey, Wendy, do either of you see my rifle?" Zambia asked as Wendy moved behind Grey's Red Frame. "I dropped it during that last sortie."

"Who actually says 'sortie' in an actual combat situation?" Grey teased.

"Shut up Grey! GAH!" A GINN's sword flashed down from the dark sky and stabbed right into Zambia's Astray's head. Grey's eyes widened, the enemy actually threw his sword at them?! Was that even possible? Rounds peppered down on Zambia's Blue Frame, blasting chucks of armor off the Astray and slicing it into pieces. The final GINN dropped down from the darkness and landed in front of the burning Blue Frame, aiming its rifle at the Red and Gold Frame.

"Zambia…" Grey murmured as the Blue Frame's husk exploded; bookish, nerdy Zambia… gone in a split second. They were just talking seconds ago!

"BASTARD!" It was Wendy; her Gold Frame jumped over Grey's Astray and sped towards the final enemy.

"W-Wendy?! Wait!" Grey took aim at the enemy, his eyes widened. It wasn't targeting Wendy! It was aiming at the last attacker with a long range weapon; his Red Frame! He had to move!

Grey yanked his mobile suit to the left, but too late, his right side was struck by 76mm rounds, tearing off his Astray's arm. He managed to move his shield to protect his cockpit, only for his legs to get blown out from under him, tumbling Grey's Red Frame to the ground.

Now that the red enemy was out of the fight, the GINN turned towards the approaching Wendy, who opened fire with her head mounted CIWS. The GINN backtracked, attempting to gain distance from the attacker and reloaded its machine gun.

Grey looked up at the scene before him. It was no use. Wendy would not be able to get close to the enemy. Maybe if they had the same level of OS, but the Gold Frame was missing its shield and right arm! It was at a serious disadvantage!

Fortunately an image on his camera caught Grey's attention, it was salvation.

Tomas snarled as the last of the Gold Frame's head cannon rounds bounced harmlessly off his armor. He just finished reloading and pointed his weapon at the final enemy.

Tomas was a quiet soldier who was not by any means a genius, but he was good at very specific things, such as improvisation. Tomas had little experience in actual combat and wasn't skilled enough to be a red coat, but when it came to improvising under pressure, he had no equal. Once Tomas got himself back under control from the enemy's surprise attack, it was a simple matter of changing perspective. If he looked at this battle like a simulation… he could do it, he could win. It was why he was able to throw his sword at such a distance and with such accuracy.

"Its over." Tomas hissed, finger tightening on the trigger. The enemy might try to dodge, but at this range he was sure to take it down! Unfortunately for the coordinator, Tomas did not realize that he had already sealed his own fate by ignoring the Red Frame.

Looking at the battle like a simulation meant that Tomas had not considered the possibility that sometimes when you put an enemy down, they don't stay down. Once he blasted the Red Frame to pieces, he moved on to the next and final target. In simulations, that enemy would have been considered destroyed, but Grey had managed to drag his Red Frame over to the dropped Blue Frame's beam rifle. They all used the same weapon after all and since Tomas had stopped moving…Grey had the perfect shot.

The Red Frame was lying on its right side, missing its legs, parts of head, and was a smoking ruin, still had a left arm and targeting system. It was all Grey needed. He pulled the trigger.

The pilot smiled as the GINN exploded, a hole where the cockpit once was located.

Bullseye.

-**Morgenroete Research Labs**

Kira and Miriallia took the automatic electrical car through the front gate of the Morgenroete complex. They entered their lab and expected to find their supervisor, Seis, but she wasn't there. Instead, Sai Argyle looked up from his work and grinned.

"Good to see that you finally made it." He happily greeted. Sai was the serious person of the group, often finding himself as mediator among his friends when there was drama.

Tolle Keonig, Kira's best friend and Mir's boyfriend, was seated in his usual spot at the far end of the table. Standing in the corner near him was a person that Kira had never seen before. He appeared to be a slim boy with brownish gold hair, but his hat obscured his face.

"Who is that?" Mir whispered to Tolle, who had stood up and given her a hug.

Tolle only shrugged. "Apparently he's Kato's guests. He said he was told to wait here by Seis. Kinda sketchy in you ask me."

Kira looked over the stranger. What could he have had to with a robotics engineer like Kato?

Sai held up a disk. "Hey Kira, Seis told me to give you this." He passed it along. "She said you'd know what it is."

Indeed Kira did know what is was and he rolled his eyes. "Great." He whined, "More work." Over the past several months, he had been Kato's assistant in a growing number of projects. He often wondered if he was doing the entire work-load of Kato's personal assistance, Seis Fatale. But he couldn't complain too much, the grad student was, to put it simply, a drop-dead bombshell. Sexy and very smart, Seis had a habit of getting very close to Kira's ear when he was working on a project and whispering compliments.

Tolle found it hilarious, especially how red Kira's face got when the red head ("With legs like out of some fashion magazine!") did such flirtatious things. Mir on the other hand, was unamused by such, "blatant attempts to use one's womanhood to make a young, impressionable boy work long hours." She was annoyed at Kira for being such an airhead and missing days of school, but she was actually angry at Seis. When it came down to it, Seis was just a little too friendly with someone who was almost a decade her junior. What was that rule? Half your age plus seven? Seis was 26… NOT. OKAY.

_Good thing she isn't here today. _Mir thought, as she comfortably wrapped her slender arms around Tolle's waist.

"So Sai…?" Tolle asked, eyeing Sai closely.

"It's a new program." Kira was explaining to the room, "A Operation System upgrade for a mobile frame. Simply put, the mobile frame is a sort of prototype in new models of cybernetic devices."

"Never mind about," Tolle said impatiently, "We talked about this yesterday! Remember Kira? The letter…?"

Kira shook his head quickly, eyes wide. "Tolle…"

Tolle smirked and called over to the blonde boy sitting behind the computer, "What's this about a letter? Sai?"

Sai looked up, "Letter? What are you guys talking about?"

Kira placed his hand over Tolle's mouth, insisting to Sai that it wasn't important.

As Kira and the others fooled around, the newcomer saw their chance. Cautiously sneaking over to the door that led to Kato's office, they reached out their hand and grabbed the knob, only to find it locked. Exasperated, the stranger dropped their hand and returned to the corner.

Kira looked over his shoulder as Tolle struggled to escape his grasp, glancing at the stranger. His eyes were like a brown-gold, but his expression was harsh. Kira didn't know why, but couldn't tear his attention away.

Suddenly he felt something shake. It was slight, almost unnoticeable. Kira let go of Tolle who, overacting as usual, fell to his knees and pretend to be gasping for air. Mir crouched down and patted him on the back, smiling kindly.

Kira frowned, was it just his imagination? No one else seemed to notice.

_**-Dauntless**_**: Bridge**

"Captain." Hendrik Tallee shifted his attention to a group of soldiers assembled on the bridge. They all saluted, which the captain returned. "Permission to disembark, sir?" It was Natarle Badgiruel who spoke.

Captain Tallee smiled, "Permission granted." The soldiers nodded and departed. Jim Kato, who was still on the bridge, watched them go.

"The pilots of the G-Weapons were in that group, do you think they'll be alright?" Tallee asked the doctor.

Kato shrugged, "During the flight I had time to sit down and talk to those pilots. They may be young, but they all are top guns selected to be pilots for the prototypes." The captain still seemed skeptical as Kato added, "They'll be just fine. And now Captain I must take my leave. I wish you the best."

Hendrik Tallee nodded, "Same to you Doctor."

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, Natarle Badgiruel removed her sunglasses and watched the scenery go by as the car traveled down the Central Shaft of the colony. She and the fellow soldiers all had to wear civilian clothing as they made their way to the <em>Archangel.<em> Didn't want to cause a commotion with the people of Heliopolis asking why Earth Alliance uniforms were being worn in their neutral colony.

She envied the civilians here. Their home had been completely untouched. As an ensign in the Earth Alliance military, Natarle had seen many horrific battles. In some ways, Heliopolis reminded her of her own home, before it was brutally destroyed by the ZAFT.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Chief Petty Officer Connor Buchanan asked, looking around the colony with a big grin on his face.

One of the people in the car, Petty Officer Jack Tonomura, looks curiously at the big soldier. "You were born here, right?"

"Yeah! It's exactly as I remember it. My mom, dad, and brother all still live here. I won't be able to see them, but it is nice to know that my home is exactly how I left it."

The Petty Office glanced quickly at Natarle's face and seemed to sense her mood; he shut up. Many Earth Alliance soldiers had no home left after the ZAFT invasion. Some were not as fortunate to be born and raised in a place like Heliopolis.

As an industrial colony for the neutral Orb, (a country comprised of a group of islands located just below the Equator) Heliopolis primarily served as a supplier of valuable interstellar raw materials. Even as war dragged on, Orb had outwardly maintained its neutrality. It was for that very reason why the Earth Alliance officer's recent arrival had to be in the utmost secrecy.

The car drove to the rear entrance of Morgenroete, a business owned by the government of Orb. Beneath the surface was a secret complex, complete with a factory capable of producing vast amounts of goods. The car parked at an underground hanger near the factory, Natarle and her companions got out and walked to an observation platform, leaned over the railing, they finally saw it, a large white battleship.

Its length spanned to the total of three football fields. Numerous cannons lined its body and wings spread out. This new ship could fly in Earth's atmosphere as well as space. Its armor made it like a fortress. This was the _Archangel_, a new battleship part of a secret project being completed within Morgenroete. Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, Petty Officer Connor Buchanan, and Petty Officer Jack Tonomura were soldiers of the United Earth Alliance's 8th Fleet; they had come to Heliopolis to board the _Archangel_ as crewmembers. With the new ship, they hoped their prayers would be answered; the stalemate and eventually, the war, would end.

-**Colony Port**

Athrun Zala waited anxiously for Rusty, they and the other ZAFT soldiers had spent the last several minutes placing bombs in key sections of the colony, most importantly, near the new Earth Alliance warship.

Suddenly Rusty was beside him, he tapped the surprised Athrun on the shoulder and motioned him to follow him away from the weightless hanger's ceiling they were floating and into the dark maintenance hatch he and Athrun had snuck through.

"What kept you?" Athrun asked once they were inside.

Rusty's big smile could be seen through this red helmet's glass, "Some workers came through the area I was placing bombs. I had to wait for them to leave." Together the two ZAFT soldiers floated up to the where the rest of their group was waiting.

"It gave me some time to think…"

"About what?"

"Well (don't tell Yzak this), but are we doing the right thing? Should we really bring this war to a neutral colony?"

Athrun looked at Rusty as they and the rest ZAFT soldiers started moving deeper into the colony, quickly reaching the interior. Rusty had just reminded him of someone…someone who he had not thought of in a long time…

"I…"

Rusty shook his head and laughed, "Hahaha, ignore me. Sorry about that."

Athrun nodded slowly and looked to his fellow ZAFT soldiers. Besides Rusty, there were three other ZAFT reds: Yzak Joule, a top rate pilot, wore an icy expression on his face. He considered himself a rival of Athrun; ambitious and eager to earn the rewards of victory. At many times, Athrun did what he could to keep his distance from him. Next was Dearka Elsman, a cynical, sometimes hot-blooded pilot who made the perfect counter-balance to Yzak. The pair of them was a deadly combination. He then shifted his gaze to Nicol Amalfi. He acted as the glue that held the group together at times, and his gentle features belied his fighting abilities. It was indeed a diverse group, yet they all made up the Le Creuset Team.

"Something wrong, Athrun?" Yzak sneered, "You look nervous."

"I don't see why any of us should be." Dearka declared, "Infiltrating has been a walk-in-the-park. And look." The five ZAFT reds and the thirty other soldiers landed on top of a grass hill that faced a highway. "Three of our targets, right down there! Taking their time and driving slow like they have all the time in the world." He snickered.

"Don't be overconfident, Dearka." Nicol spoke up, "We can't let our guard down."

Dearka literally waved the comment away and Yzak started boasting about how all naturals were "stupid" and "pathetic."

"Rusty and I will go seize the last two units that are at the factory. You guys take the ones below." The others nodded at Athrun's suggestion and he, Rusty, and several soldiers flew away. Flying low over the trees and heading towards the factory distinct. They had 5 minutes until the bombs went off.

**Helipolis: Earth Alliance Colony Headquarters**

Flay Allster was not happy. Today she was supposed to shopping with Jessica and the others. They had found a great new shop on the east side of the colony that sold a bunch of things that were coming into style this year. The reason that Flay and her friends had never been there before was simple, style was a fickle thing, and the shop used to only sell to a much older crowd, only for a lot of the styles to come back into fashion.

Yet, to Flay and all her high-school friends, the shop was unexplored territory. A new frontier to be conquered. They would buy everything good; leaving only the scraps for those at school to copy them once they all arrived wearing the daring new clothes. Some girls might wait until the shop would be resupplied, but by then the clothes will already be out of style.

However, all of this planning was currently being ruined. Flay's father had told her that told she had to go with him on an inspection of the Orb Defense Force Facilities. They had gotten there a few hours ago and her father had met some important looking men in a back office. If Flay was knowledgeable about military uniforms she might have noticed that none of the men were wearing Orb uniforms but the white and black of the Earth Alliance, but alas, this detail went right over her head.

"Daddy, can we PLEASE go?!"

Vice Foreign Minister George Allster gave her a calming smile, "Please be patient dear. We are almost finished."

Flay sighed loudly and looked grumpily around the hanger bay they were just shown. What was the big deal today anyway? Her Dad had a home in Heliopolis for years and these facilities were not new, why did they want him to come to this boring place today?

There was nothing interesting in the hanger anyway. Just a bunch of ugly orange… mobile armors? _Is that what they are called? _Flay wondered, as she looked back at her Dad, who was talking politely to an Orb Officer who was striving to make a good impression. Guess that means she is going to have to pull the sick card if she wanted to get out of this one…

* * *

><p>A man stood on the walkway overlooking the hanger. He had just tried to call again and still nothing…<p>

_What is Pricilla doing? She is normally so prompt with responding to phone calls._ Besides, he was still curious about why she wanted to know if George Allster was acting strangely…and if she wanted to discuss this detail over drinks or maybe dinner…No one from the Earth Alliance or Orb military had come to talk to George Allster that wasn't supposed to, it was a simple tour of the Orb Defense Force facilities. He had seen it hundreds of times. _Ooo! Show them our Mistrals! Look how old and truly useless they would be in real combat!_

The man's name was Ian Buchanan, pilot of the Orb Defense Forces. Ian was stocky and burly, with heavy set arms and a strong chest. He put away his phone. Whatever Pricilla was worried George Allster would find or hear, had not seemed to happen. Ian leaned against the walkway and arched his back in a stretch. All for nothing… and this was his day off. He would much rather be in his barracks or parent's house on his computer then coming all the way up here. But Pricillia was cute as hell and what was a guy supposed to do when a girl like that asked for a favor?

He looked back over his shoulder. The girl in the pink dress, the Vice Foreign Minister's daughter, seemed to be sick and was clutching her chest. She seemed to be complaining loudly to her father who after a few awkward moments, caved and took her away, leaving the Orb Officer giving the tour looking flustered and annoyed.

Ian raised an eyebrow cynically; _The Minister's daughter is kind of a brat…even I can tell she is faking._

**-Heliopolis Airspace: ZAFT Warship **_**Vesalius**_**, Hanger**

Rau Le Creuset climbed inside his CGUE and closed the hatch. He did not wear a space suit, saying that there was, 'no enemy' that would push him to take such a safety mobile suit's monitors flickered on, as the suit was fully activated. The CGUE was a superior version of the GINN, meant for commander use; the CGUE had a higher mobility and speed than the standard GINN.

He opened a communication channel to the bridge, "Ades, its time! Launch me once we reach combat speed."

"Yessir! Weigh anchor! _Vesalius_ launch!"

The _Vesalius_, followed by the Laurasia-class transporter, the _Gamow,_ sped towards the colony at top speed. They were instantly detected.

"Attention ZAFT vessels! Your present actions are in violation of your treaty with the Orb Union! Cease your advanceand leave the area immediately!" A communication officer on Heliopolis ordered, but his words went unheeded.

"This is Rau Le Creasut, CGUE launching." The white mobile suit was spat out of the green warship. ZAFT was on the move!

Inside the colony, officers hurried about the control room overlooking the _Archangel's_ docking bay. They rushed around frantically in the anticipation of battle. Abruptly, all communication channels spat out nothing but earsplitting static.

"The ZAFT vessels are broadcasting electronic interference waves!" The communication officer called out.

In the office that George Allister was supposed to go after his tour was in an uproar. The captain of the _Archangel _was principle among them. "This a hostile act, without a doubt!"

His second-in-command nodded furiously, "We need to scramble! I will call Tallee and have him launch, it will buy us more time!"

The captain nodded, "But where is George Allster?"

The door to the office opened and a pale Earth Alliance ensign stuck his head in, "Sir, George Allster took his daughter outside to make sure she gets home. Apparently she is not feeling-"

The captain cut off the ensign, "Make sure he gets to a shelter! We cannot have anything happen to him!"

"Sir!" The ensign nodded frantically.

"And get me a line to Ensign Badgiruel! Direct lines should still be working!"

* * *

><p>On the bridge of the <em>Dauntless<em>, a chill swept through the men and women sitting at their posts. The two ZAFT vessels were moving to attack? And they had just been given the order to launch?! What chance did they have against two warships of that caliber?

The Squadron Leader of the Zero Squadron, Lieutenant Shoko Emena floated into the bridge, "Enemies? She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Tallee nodded. "Confirmed, we detected one Nazca-class and one Laurasia-class. Only one mobile suit is approaching though."

"What about the G-Weapon pilots?" Shoko asked.

"They've arrived and should be boarding the ship now."

"There's a bit of good news." She replied. With the recruits on the new ship, they'd at least be safe for now. "I already ordered my squadron to be in their Moebius units, but you know we are not at full strength, right?"

Tallee nodded, "I am aware; nevertheless, you are our best hope Lieutenant. If that CGUE is who I think it is, that genius of yours might have to prove herself today."

Shoko nodded and headed out of the bridge towards the hanger. Tallee adjusted his hat, it was a nervous tic, but his brain was working in overdrive. If that CGUE was Rau Le Creuset, things were going to go to hell fast. He had seen what that man could do during the Battle of Endymion and even the Zero Squadron would unlikely be able to stop him. But why did he launch alone? Le Creuset only came out as a necessity or when-

Tallee sat up straight, "Someone get on the line to Heliopolis! Tell them they likely have GINN's already inside the colony! They need to be ready!"

This communication's officer nodded and Tallee turned to the helmsman, "Newman! Take us out!"

* * *

><p>Back in the hanger that housed the <em>Archangel<em>, the crew and factory workers scrambled to finish preparing the ship due to the news of the ZAFT incursion.

"Don't worry, we'll let Heliopolis defense worry about this."Natarle said to Petty Officer Buchanan and Tomamura, but quickly added, "The captain said that we'll launch if we're needed." She turned to Connor. "Get on a line to Lieutenant Ramius, have her commence complete transfer of the G weapons and assist in any way you can."

Connor nodded and broke away from the main group, heading for the communication station.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Orb Defense forces were launching. There were only about 20 of them in total and one of them was late. Ian Buchanan climbed into his Mistral, breathing hard. He was actually going to be heading into combat! <em>Oh hell…<em>

They had more than 20 pilots available, but since Ian was already on the base when the sirens starting going off, he was immediately ordered to head out and not wait for the remaining pilots who were off duty.

Ian started swearing under his breath. This wasn't supposed to happen! If he'd never listened to Pricilla, he never would have been on the base and he wouldn't have been able to get here in time to actually engage in combat! Why does this stuff always happen to him?

"Mistral 17, we are launching you now!"

Ian swallowed, "Roger." The next moment he and his mobile armor were thrown into space.

In that exact moment, all the bombs laid by the ZAFT soldier's timers counted down to zero and detonated, explosions tore apart the military headquarters of both the Orb and Earth forces. The ensuing inferno engulfed everything, killing all those in the path. Unfortunately for the captain of the _Archangel_, the office he and his fellow officers were still in, the place where they were supposed to meet George Allster earlier, was right in the path of the hellish destruction.

At least their deaths were quick.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>**Thanks for reading! **

**A Few housekeeping notes:**

**Sorry if that first battle got a little…wordy. It was the First battle and I wanted to illustrate just how terrible the Astray's OS were…things should be getting faster paced from here on out. **

**In case some of you were thinking in the first chapter, "Kira seems to be working A LOT harder in this story, what's up with that?" Seis is essentially the grown up/sexy version of Flay and as we all know, our poor hero is VERY easily manipulated by women. A sexier version of Flay kindly asking Kira to "please get this project done…" would make him put EVERYTHING he had towards finishing said project. **

**Please review! Encouragement makes me put out fast content!**

**Next chapter should be out faster! I planned for this to come out last week, but I got the flu and found it impossible to write...**


	3. Phase 03: Rage

**Author's Note: I originally planned all this content to be in the last chapter, but it was getting long and I didn't want the second chapter in my story to be almost 3 times the length of the first. That and getting sick made the chapter delayed…so I wanted to post something for you guys! The chapters will probably get longer in the future, but not right now! Not when we are just starting!**

**A few responses to you reviewers:**

**Dragoon Swordsman: You will have to excuse the hyperbole in my author's notes. What I meant is that Kira has been shown to be susceptible to the influence of beautiful women. And as a 16 year old, shy(ish) teenager… a strong sexy woman can influence him, especially if she is, by all appearances, flirting with him. **

**MadFrog2000: I love Mu La Flaga. He is my favorite character in Gundam Seed, hands down. Unfortunately he is one of those characters that will appear later. So you will have to wait! Sorry about that! But he will better serve the story with what I have planned for him!**

**And thank you again to all those who review! **

_Over half a century has passed since mankind has immigrated to space as a result of overpopulation, currently there are hundreds of massive space colonies floating around the Earth. People dwell in these artificial lands, treating it as a second home to live, love, bare children, and die…_

**Phase 3: **Rage

**Heliopolis: Highway**

The whole colony shook from the explosion. There wasn't a single person who did not feel it and many lost their footing. Ankles were sprained, a few bones were broken, and many, many glass plates, cups, and other fragile household objects were shattered on their respective floors.

On the highway, everyone in the convoy was caught in near pandemonium. Murrue did what she could to regain order with little success. Every trailer had stopped, many people were mingling in the middle of the road, some trying to call their friends or loved ones, but few of their calls were actually being received…was there something wrong with the communications network?

Just then, one of the workers rushed up to Murrue. "Lieutenant!" he panted, "We've lost all contact with the ship!" Before he had the opportunity to go on, a loud rumble shook the ground again. Every worker and soldier on the road looked up to see two ZAFT GINNs heading right for them! The Earth Alliance personal ran for safety as the towering mobile suits began to open fire on the convoy, disintegrating vehicles and damaging the surrounding buildings. Murrue threw herself facedown until the explosions subsided.

"Those were ZAFT." She muttered, as she stood and sprinted back to her own vehicle. Brian, her personal assistant, was still sitting in the passenger seat. Brian Murphy was a tall, brown haired man and a fantastic assistant. He was able to read situations quickly and give orders that were effective, taking pressure off Murrue so she could make decisions in the bigger picture. Currently Brian was already on the radio, attempting to signal the drivers to get moving towards the spaceport again, but with all jamming in the area, it was spotty work at best.

Murrue spun the truck around and headed back to the factory, pulling out the two way radio Murrue clicked the receiver on and was rewarded by a quick response from the factory. "Prep the X303 and X105 for immediate combat!" Murrue ordered before her attention was caught by a swarm of dark shapes descending from the sky towards the rapidly receding convoy. _Ground troops?_ Murrue swore and continued talking into the radio, "And give every person protecting the Strike and Aegis a weapon! We have boots on the ground."

Yzak, Dearka, Nicol and the other soldiers quickly headed for the three trailers carrying the Earth Forces new weapons that were parked directly ahead of them. Loaded on each was none other than the prototype mobile suits of the Earth Alliance. The ZAFT marksmen picked off the soldiers guarding the suits. Yzak leapt onto the rear trailer, "Destroy any and all equipment we can't take!"

His cool eyes narrowed as several Earth Alliance soldiers jumped out of the trailers and started firing up at ZAFT invaders. "Eliminate everyone who gets in your way!"

**Morgenroete Research Center**

Kira and the stranger had just locked gazes when the bombs went off. A thunderous roar swept through the building, followed by tremendous and violent shaking. Everyone nearly lost their footing and struggled to keep from tumbling over, Tolle failed, sprawling on the floor in a painful heap.

"What was that?" Sai shouted, grasping a table, "A meteoroid collision?" Such accidents were known to occur, but everyone had the sense that it was no accident. Mir pulled Tolle back to his feet and together, they all made a dash out of the lab and into the hallways of the buildings.

They headed for the emergency stairs, knowing instinctively that the elevators were now inoperable in times of crisis. They pulled the door open, finding several workers running down the stairwell.

"What's happening?" Sai yelled.

One of the stopped and looked over his shoulder. "We are under attack by the ZAFT!" He shouted back, "Some of their mobile suits are now inside the colony!"

The worker motioned to them to follow him and he was off once more. Tolle and Sai were the first through the door, when the stranger abruptly turned the opposite direction and ran down the hall.

"Wait a minute, hey!" Kira shouted. Disregarding his own safety, he spun around and took off in pursuit.

"Kira!" Mir screamed as he disappeared around the corner.

I'll be right back!" He called over his shoulder. He tailed the stranger, finally catching up to him near the factory area. He grabbed hold of his arm and tugged back. Another blast shook the building, blowing the strangers hat off, revealing blonde hair, delicate features and feminine lips.

"Hey, you….you're a girl?!" He gawked.

The woman glared at Kira. "Yeah, what'd you think I was? Let's hear it!" She tried to break out of his grip.

"I-I just thought-"

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded, "Just leave me alone and go back!"

"Are you insane?" He countered, finding his proverbial feet again, "It's too dangerous to just run around."

"I mean it." She growled, "There's something I need to check on my own." She had now wretched her arm free. "Now go back to the others."

"I can't do that now. Look!" Kira told her, pointing behind him. The corridor had now collapsed behind them, cutting off that path. He thought quickly. "I know, just follow me." He grabbed the woman's arm again and took off running, pulling her along.

"Let go!" She yelled, attempting to yank her arm furiously out of his grasp, "Idiot."

"Idiot?" He repeated, tugging her even harder so she'd keep up. When he looked back, he was surprised to see that her eyes were now tearing up. He loosened his grip and stopped.

"There's something I have to see." She insisted, and then hung her head down. "I was afraid that this would happen."

Kira frowned at her last comment. How did she know that the ZAFT forces would attack? But there wasn't any time to worry about that right at the moment. The entire building was falling apart!

"Look, don't worry; we have to find a shelter. There should be some near the factory." He gently interlaced their fingers and hurried towards safety.

**Heliopolis Airspace**

"Pathetic." Rau declared, blowing up the 16th Mistral that tried franticly to fight him off. "Simply pathetic." The battle had started with the almost 20 mobile armors attempting to box him in, yet as he meticulously picked off his foes, their formations and battle plans became increasingly desperate. The remaining 3 were all flying in a straight line towards him, firing their cannons that were underneath their frames.

Rau danced his CGUE easily through their fire and picked off two of them with quick shots from his 76mm rifle. The last one tried to scurry away but Rau raced up next to the mobile armor, so close he could see the terrified face behind the cockpit, and fired at point blank range. The orange enemy disintegrated.

Rau paused and took a moment to survey the battlefield. So much for the Orb Defense Force, he had tougher challenges against Earth Alliance tanks. Of course…no enemy was close to La Flaga…

Movement in the port caught the masked man's attention; he spun to face the freighter that had docked with the colony only hours before. It was flying out of the port, launching mobile armors.

Rau Le Creuset eyed the enemies curiously, "Maybe you will be a tougher challenge." He raced his CGUE forward and tried to keep from smirking, "But I doubt it."

Ian Buchanan winced; his head felt like it was full of needles. Where was he? He blinked slowly and looked around, he was in the cockpit of his Mistral, but the glass was cracked and his electronics were dead. What the hell happened? He had just launched when the hanger bay… He winced again and grabbed his head. That's right! The hanger bay exploded and the blast had knocked his Mistral around like a toy. Ian had smashed against the colony and he had been thrown forward and back, slamming him against the controls repeatedly.

It was probably why his head felt like it was going to split in half and was getting more painful with every passing second.

His Mistral was free floating now, spinning slowly away from the colony. He looked around, where was everyone from the Orb Defense Force? What had happened to his fellow pilots? His Mistral spun up and the bottom of the _Dauntless_ came into view, rocketing out from the port with Moebius mobile armors launching from the ship's cargo bay, Ian's Mistral's view screen spun past the ship and he was facing out to open space again.

This was not good… in this situation he would keep floating away from the colony until he became lost in space. If ZAFT was attacking it was doubtful anyone had the time to look for a survivor, especially if that explosion had taken out the command center! Given the size and placement of the blast it was likely no one knew he was still alive.

_Or cares…_

Ian reached under his controls and pulled out a mass of wires and cords. He had watched a lot of videos on hotwiring via the net and had read the entire operation manual for the Mistral's electronics cover-to-cover; many times. He always found electronics and engineering interesting and what was a single, 23 year old supposed to do on those lonely Friday nights anyway?

Ian Buchanan set to work, letting the mass of wires in front of him distract himself from the creeping knowledge that every passing second pushed him further away from Heliopolis.

_I really didn't want to look at my oxygen levels. _The Orb pilot thought miserably, but he did anyway.

The results were not inspiring.

Ian Buchanan started to work faster.

**Heliopolis: Morgenroete Factory**

Inside the colony, all hell was breaking loose. The Earth Alliance forces had deployed trucks loaded with surface-to-air missiles and mobile artillery, but they were greatly outmatched by the two GINNs and were destroyed with ease; additionally, all the trailers loaded with undefended equipment were blown to smithereens systematically.

Meanwhile the factory that housed the two final G-Weapons was under attack. No sooner had Murrue and Brian returned to the building that it was set upon by more ZAFT ground troops. The firefight between the Alliance troops and ZAFT soldiers was brutal. The Earth Alliance forces had numbers, but most were mechanics and had not fired a weapon since basic training. ZAFT on the other hand seemed surprised to be encountering so much resistance and the longer the battle went on, the more casualties the coordinator's suffered.

Bullets and smoke filled the air, mixing with cries of the men and women on both sides as natural and coordinator fought to the death in a cacophony of battle.

"Lt. Ramius!" cried a soldier before a swarm of bullets cut him down.

"Hamana, Brian! Hurry and get them out of here!" Murrue shouted, chestnut hair flying, she ducked down behind a few steel canisters to reload her assault rifle. She hadn't noticed that one of the ZAFT soldiers had slipped behind her and now was aiming his weapon at her.

"Look out, behind you!" yelled Brain.

She reacted without hesitation, spinning around and firing, sending a bullet right into the gunman's head. She looked over her shoulder to her rescuer, "Brian, get the trailer for the Aegis. I will secure the Strike." He nodded and sprinted towards the trailer.

Another explosion rocked the factory as Murrue made her way through the bullets and flame towards the trailer. A ZAFT red saw her moving towards the target, realizing her intention he to burst out of hiding and starting spraying bullets in her direction. They both moved parallel towards the target, Murrue running full tilt towards the trailer and the ZAFT soldier aiming his rifle while he ran, despite this, he was able to keep up with her speed, yet he blinded himself to his surroundings.

Petty Officer Hamana spotted the ZAFT red and stood, aiming at the target with his rifle, he fired in rapid succession. The bullets hit their mark and the soldier fell dead.

"Rusty!" Athrun cried and he leapt out of cover, spraying bullets at the soldier who killed his teammate, mowing him down in a spray of blood.

"Hamana, no!" Murrue screamed, turning back and aiming her weapon, but the ZAFT soldier fired first, striking her in her left shoulder. She cried out in pain and dropped.

Athrun had emptied his ammo clip, he tossed the rifle away and drew his combat knife. He raised the blade high and rushed forward towards the injured woman. Before he could get close and slit her throat, bullets struck the floor near his feet and Athrun's survival instinct kicked in, he dropped and rolled behind the nearest canisters; narrowly avoiding more bullets fired hastily at him.

Before Murrue could move, she was grabbed by her wrist and pulled to her feet, "You okay?" The deep familiar voice of her assistant asked gently.

"Brian…" Murrue winced in pain, "What are you… the Aegis needs…"

"C'mon." Brian said assertively and together they made their way to the Strike trailer. Brian opened the passenger door to the driving compartment and helped Murrue in, "They taught us in basic to leave no one behind, remember?" He smiled and suddenly grasped, he mouth flew open in pain and he staggered a few steps forward.

"BRIAN!"

The soldier fell to one knee and glanced over his shoulder. Athrun had thrown his knife and it had embedded itself in Brian's right shoulder. Now the ZAFT soldier was picking up Rusty's fallen rifle and was pointing it furiously at the two Earth Alliance soldiers.

"GO!" Brian wheezed and he slammed the trailer door, just as Athrun's bullets struck home. Murrue was spared the sight of her comrade's death, but the pings of the bullets bouncing off the trucks armor was more than she needed to hear.

Murrue dragged herself over to the driver's seat and started the vehicle. Gunning the motor, the massive trailer burst out of the factory, tearing through the broken doors of the building. Murrue angled the vehicle towards the main highway. _Brian…_

Right till the end, he knew exactly what to do to help her.

Athrun fought back angry tears as he dragged Rusty's body to the Aegis. The factory would not last much longer. He had to escape, but Athrun would be damned if he left his best friend to such an undignified grave. Rusty was always so good natured and thoughtful, he likened himself to a great thinker but he always did it with a wink…like one should never take life too seriously….

And now…

Athrun gingerly placed Rusty's body in the cockpit of the G-weapon and boarded the machine himself, just as the factory exploded around him. He was momentarily distracted by two figures suddenly bursting out into the hanger on the upper-walkway, but Athrun ignored them. He should pursue the enemy…but…but…he had to get Rusty back to the ship. Back home.

He opened a channel to Miguel as the Aegis stood and flew out of the collapsing factory. "Miguel…" He started, "Rusty failed…"

Kira and the girl finally made it to the passageway that lead to a hanger inside the factory. Ahead of them was a narrow catwalk stretched above the floor. They had to get through this last hurdle if they wanted to get outside and find an emergency shelter. He held the girl close and ran across. Explosions made the catwalk tremble, but it held. They were able to get halfway across safely, when Kira saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

A red mobile suit stood, swathed in flames its impressive and regal appearance was highlighted by the red glow. The mobile suit peered down at them like how a human looks at insects, before turning and tearing through the hanger; it was the final nail in the coffin of the factory, the walls around them started to crumble.

The awe of the mobile suit had made Kira temporarily drop the woman's arm. He had never actually seen a mobile suit except in news bulletins and pictures. Being right next to one was terrifying, and yet, somehow electrifying. He looked for the stranger, but she was staring at where the red suit had flown away from, distraught written all over her face.

"The Earth Alliance's mobile suits are here!" She was trembling and she grasped the railing until her knuckles had turned white. "**Father, why did you betray us?!"** She shouted at the top of her lungs. Her cry echoed loudly.

"C'MON!" Kira yelled, he grabbed her and this time there was little resistance. The both sprinted out of the hanger bay, just reaching the other end as the catwalk and descended the stairs, as the hanger collapsed.

The dust cloud that was kicked up by the falling building engulfed the pair. To Kira it felt like someone was slowly squeezing his neck and he was sent into a coughing fit as he and the woman stumbled through the embers and black dust until they both emerged from the cloud; wheezing, covered in dirt, but very much alive.

Kira slumped down against a nearby truck's wheel. He was still struggling to breath, the cloud of dust no longer was as thick, but it still coated the air with a grey haze. The woman slumped down next to him; her bright blond hair had changed to a dirty, brownish color. He idly wondered what his own hair looked like as another wave of coughing took him.

The girl seemed to be doing far better than he was, but she seemed lost in thought.

"Kira." He said between coughing.

"W-" The woman stopped and made a disgusting hacking noise. She leaned back against the truck's wheel again. "What?"

"My name," more coughing, "My name is Kira. What's yours?"

The dust covered girl let out a wheeze. "What kind of idiot introduces himself in THIS situation?"

Kira had no response. It just felt like the right thing to do. A kind of introduction was necessary after two complete strangers had escaped from a collapsing building. It just seemed fitting.

"Cagalli." The woman finally spoke, not unkindly, "My name is Cagalli."

Kira held out a hand, "Nice to meet you Cagalli."

She shook her head, but Kira could see a slight smile underneath the dust and grim, which made him smile, even slightly. She took his hand, "Same." She coughed, "I don't suppose you got any water?"

Kira then noticed a slight rumbling from what they were leaning against, it made him break out into a full grin, "No, but I think I have something almost as good." He slapped the trucks wheel both he and Cagalli were leaning against, "The truck is still running."

A few minutes later, the duo had climbed into the truck (the same one that Murrue and Brian had driven to the factory in) and had taken off heading down the main highway towards the shelters in the next block; however, they could not find a place to take refuge, either the shelters were destroyed, blocked, or full to capacity. Fortunately they found a water bottle on the floor of the vehicle and gratefully drank down the cool liquid.

As they got closer to the highway and spaceport, the smoke seemed to be getting closer and the number of people on the streets was growing. Men, women, and children moved along the road. Some were still driving in the ever growing hoard of people, but most walked, carrying belongings or pets. Yet, every single one had a look in their eyes. The look was a kind of hunger that spoke of desperation and the furious desire to protect their loved ones or possessions (sometimes both).

Kira slowed the truck down to a crawl, looking around at the residents of Heliopolis. He was shocked by the grim horror of the situation, by all these people being displaced! The residents of Heliopolis had nothing to do with the war! They were just like Kira and his friends! They were all supposed to keep living out their peaceful lives: Tolle and Mir would argue over trivial things, Kuzzey would pretend not to care about academics but would study harder than everyone, and Sai would laugh freely and give that contented, understanding smile of his as if Sai was saying, "This was how life should be." _It should have always stayed that way!_

How would they go back to that? Could they? If Kira was honest, he did not want to answer that question.

"Kira look." The sound of Cagalli's voice broke Kira out of his thoughts and he looked up to see a large military trailer blocking the middle of a high rising bridge. The civilians walking on the bridge were being stopped by about a dozen or so soldiers carrying rifles…wearing Earth Forces uniform? What were they doing in Heliopolis?

The civilians being stopped were arguing with the armed soldiers. Tensions were, understandably high, and the officers looked like they were getting ready to point their weapons into the crowd of frightened, tired civilians. But…Kira saw someone standing with the soldiers that looked familiar. He was wearing a suit, not a uniform, and his square glasses and slumped posture had to only be one man: Doctor Kato. _What is he doing with the Earth Forces?_ Kira took a deep breath and stopped the car. "Wait here." He said, trying to sound confident. "I will see what is going on."

Cagalli raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"What?" Kira asked indignantly, Cagalli sounded like Kira had just told her he was going to jump off a cliff. "I think I know one of those people on the trailer. I want to see if he can let us past or at least, tell us what is going on."

Cagalli shook her head and clambered over to the driver's seat. "Whatever, just be careful and don't get mauled by the crowd. I will be ready to reverse the hell out of here if we can't get around them."

Kira nodded and closed the door, making his way through the growing mob.

"NO ONE PAST THIS POINT!" One of the soldiers was shouting, "CIVILIANS GO BACK UP THE ROAD AND TAKE A DETOUR! WE SENT SOLDIERS UP THAT WAY TO DIRECT YOU TO BLOCK G!"

Some civilians were turning around, but several were arguing with the soldiers. One ragged looking man tried to climb up the trailer, only to get knocked down to the ground by the butt of one of the soldier's weapons. He hit the ground hand, causing several people to cry out in anger. Kira winced as the man was pulled to his feet; his nose appeared to be broken and was bleeding profusely.

Kira moved around several more civilians who decided that it was not worth overcoming the road block and were turning around. He called up to one of the soldiers, "I am a friend of Doctor Kato! Please let me up!"

"WHAT?" The soldier replied exasperatedly, "GO AROUND! THE TRAILER IS STUCK!"

Kira ignored the soldier and moved to the far side of the road where he saw the figure of Kato before. He heard a female voice and the unmistakable deep intones of Doctor Kato,

"…hurt?" Kato was saying and the woman's voice responded, "It was a clean wound. The bullet passed right through, but I cannot believe I lost control of the vehicle."

"Think nothing of it Lieutenant Ramius." Kato stood up; he was standing on the top of the trailer's driving compartment and talking to someone who was obscured by the massive vehicle. "Where would I be without you?"

"Doctor!" Kira called moving closer to his mentor.

"The Strike goes before the evacuees!" Kato said to the nearest soldiers. "The other four have been seized by ZAFT! This must get to the _Archangel_!"

"Doctor Kato!" Kira yelled again, waving his arms as the man he had worked with for over three months turned towards the civilians. "Move these people bac-" Kato finally took notice of Kira, he blinked in surprise. "Kira?"

"Is whatever in this trailer more important than these people Doctor?!" Kira had not meant to make it sound so accusatory, but after everything he went through today it was hard for him to feel too badly about his tone.

Kato stared at Kira for a few seconds before he turned away dismissively, "Get out of here!"

Kira, dismayed by the Doctor's response, could only gap in shock, "W-what?"

Kato was back to ordering the soldiers, "Move these people away, we have to get it to the _Archangel_ on the double!" Kato turned back around and his eyes fell again on Kira. For the first time since Kira had known him, he looked angry, "What are you still doing? Get to the nearest shelter! _Now_!"

As if to punctuate his words, the forest next to the bridge burst into flame, a few rounds from a 76mm Heavy Machine Gun had struck the trees. A rumbling filled the air as Miguel and Matthew's GINN's landed next to the trailer and, unbeknownst to Kira, the final G-Weapon.

They were standing in the direction the civilians were originally trying to head, yet no longer, screaming in fear, the remaining civilians on the highway backtracked and ran away from the massive war machines.

Kira did not move. Once again he was in amazed by the size and pure tangible power that emanated from the mobile suit.

He only came back to his senses when the GINNs started to slowly approached the trailer.

Miguel was pissed. Royally pissed. The mission had started perfectly! The bombs went off, the soldiers attacked the trailers, and he and Matthew wreaked havoc on what could laughably be called ground defenses. Everything was going by the numbers, but he'd noticed that Olar's team was late, several minutes late.

The battle progressed and, hearing no word from Olar, Tomas, or Mine, Migiuel had grown steadily more worried. After Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol seized their G-Weapons and headed back to the _Vesalius_, Miguel ordered Grace to investigate the missing team's whereabouts. A few minutes later, she reported that the whole team was KIA. It appeared that they encountered some mobile suits ZAFT did not know about and had gotten themselves killed trying to fight them off. They seemed to have taken all their enemies down with them, as Grace reported no other contacts after she headed back to her post.

Miguel barely had enough time to wrap his head around the fact that some of their subordinates and closest friends were dead when Athrun reported to him that Rusty had "failed." Miguel knew exactly what that meant and felt another wave of astonishment, anger, and even guilt. It was his plan to divide the team up and it was his responsibility that Olar had run into unexpected quantities and were unable to clear out the factory.

That had led the entirety of Athrun and Rusty's team into an elongated firefight they were not ready for and _this _was the result. Even if he was a red coat, Miguel always liked Rusty. Cool and relaxed, Rusty was someone everyone liked being around.

_Dammit…What am I doing getting distracted by all of this?_ It was on him and Matthew to make sure that Rusty's target did not make it off the colony. They would either capture it or barring that, destroy the machine.

"Matthew, there are several more ground vehicles on the way. Get ready to move. We will wipe them out and seize the enemy machine."

Matthew response was cool and focused, he too was angry over all the friends he had lost today, "Roger that, lets kick some ass."

The vehicles spun around the bend, they were little more than armored jeeps with surface-to-air rocket launchers placed on top. The jeeps were easy pickings for the GINNs. Ducking and jumping through the rockets the jeeps tried to fire at them, the GINNs annihilated the vehicles with grim efficiency.

The rounds and rockets caused massive explosions all around the road, unable to see straight Kira leapt off the bridge and rolled down a slanting hill that was next to it. Screams and horrified cries filled the air as the remaining civilians in the area were caught in the cross fire. Several were hit by shrapnel, losing body parts or getting maimed by shards of the road, trees, and buildings. More were given quick deaths, a stray missile, a causal foot of a mobile suit crushing a parent and child. Horrendous destruction was everywhere and Kira heard all of it as he lay on the ground.

"Cagalli…" Kira muttered, slowly standing, he had to find her and make sure she was alright. No sooner had the young man stood when a foot of a mobile suit came crashing down several yards away, the weight knocked Kira off his feet. Kira stared up at grey and green mobile suit as it aimed its rifle at some unseen enemy and proceeded to fire rapidly.

The ground shook as the shell casings tumbled to the ground, the size and weight were enough to crush anyone who was unfortunate enough to get in their path and today, that was Kira. Responding by pure instinct alone, Kira crawled to his feet and sprinted further into the destroyed forest, away from the trailer and up a steep incline that led to a higher dirt road. He passed by something that resembled a body, yet it was so charred from the explosion that occurred in the forest when the GINN's arrived, that Kira's frantic, terrified brain barely processed the terrible scene. It could only think about one thing: Survive. Survive! SURIVIVE! **SURVIVE!**

Either by luck, speed, or skill, Kira climbed out from underneath the standing GINN and away from the falling shells. He only stopped because the incline was mostly rock and the noise of the GINN's rifle knocked the rocks under his feet loose, he had a jolting moment of feeling his feet suddenly giving way, before he fell, barely managing to catch himself with his hands before he face planted in the rocky underbrush.

"Shit…shit…shit…" Kira muttered and rolled over. The GINN had moved further away, it was now standing in front of the trailer, shielding it from the remaining armored jeeps.

Kira glanced up and saw that on the dirt road at the top of the hill was full of civilians. They heading up and away from the battlefield, but some had stopped and were staring at the mobile suits that were engaged in combat. A few were even taking pictures with phones or cameras, but Kira looked past all of them and his eyes met a girl in a pink dress. She was following an older man in a blue suit who looked decidedly unhappy and annoyed with the situation.

"Flay…Allstar?" Kira mouthed, he wasn't sure if he was speaking or not, his mind was still reeling, but the red headed girl cocked her head thoughtfully at him. Recognition crossed her face and her mouth formed an 'Oh!' Disregarding her own safety, Flay stopped following her father and stood at the brink of the hill, and then slowly, she started sliding down it.

"You!" Flay called, red hair streaming behind her, "You are one of Sai's friends, right?"

Kira looked up at the girl he had been crushing on for years. What was she saying? Didn't she know how unsafe this area was? "F-Flay…"

"Flay, get back here! Now! FLAY!" Her father stood at the top of the hill, getting jostled by people who wanted nothing more than to get to a safe shelter. Vice Minister George Allster could understand the sentiment.

"Where is he?" Flay was calling down to Kira as she slowly moved down the hill, taking care not to slip, "Where is Sai-"

A stray missile streaked into view and struck the top of the hill, it exploded.

Flay was thrown forward, rolling down the hill, her pink dress charred and burned, she stopped a few yards in front of Kira.

"FLAY!" Kira forced himself to stand, he still felt disoriented and his heart was racing so fast he thought it might burst. He took a few shaky steps up the hill and, regaining his coordination, moved toward his fallen crush.

"Flay!" He grabbed her arms, gently shaking her. Seeing her open her eyes slowly and look around in confusion, filled Kira was relief.

"Dad?"

The single worded question made Kira's blood run cold. Hadn't he seen her father on top of the hill? _Oh god…_The icy feeling was spreading to his heart. _Flay's father is…he is…_

"D-dad…" Flay pushed herself away from Kira and stood on trembling legs, almost falling down the steep incline, but she got her balance and stumbled forward. "Daddy?" She was like a ghost as she headed back up to the crater where her father stood before.

Kira stood too, eyes wide, blood frozen. There didn't seem to be any sound except for Flay's slowly accelerating breaths. All the far off cries and the echoes of battle were gone… Flay's pain was all the existed.

What should he say? What could he say? All he could do was just stand and watch.

"DADDY! **DAD!" **Flay had finally broke, falling to her knees near the edge of the crater and screaming her misery up into the sky. Her calls for her Dad became broken by sobs and choking tears.

Kira moved forward, sullen and ashen faced, until he stood a few feet behind the weeping girl. "Flay…if you don't get out of here you will die too."

Flay didn't respond, she was hunched over, face obscured by her red hair.

"Flay!" Kira fell to his knees behind her and grabbed her arms, "RUN! Get out of here!" What was he doing? Flay and Kira barely knew each other. Kira had only watched this girl from afar and they had spoken a few times in class, but nothing beyond small talk.

"No!" Flay turned her tear streaked face back to the crater. "NO!" She fell back forward on her knees

"FLAY!" Kira forced her back up, attempting to pull her on her feet.

"NOOO!" Flay shrieked, her hysteria growing, as she squirmed and spun her body in an attempt to escape. "STOP IT!"

"Snap out of it! Ugh!' Kira tried shaking her again, but one of Flay's hands struck his face and pushed it away at an odd angle. The frozen feeling inside of Kira was melting away, he was getting mad. A stray thought popped into his head, reminding him what people in movies did in this situation.

"Enough!' Kira let go one of her arms and proceeded to slap Flay in the face. Repeatedly. He immediately felt bad after but Flay had stopped screaming and instead seemed to be more aware. "You're strong! You are not a child!"

Flay blinked, shock and misery written all over her beautiful face. "I-I.."

"Run to the nearest shelter! You can run right?!" Flay nodded, "I will be right behind you! MOVE!"

He dragged the girl back to her feet; Flay was almost entirely dead weight. She still seemed to be in pure shock, would she be able to escape? "GO! NOW!"

Flay managed to stay standing, her face pale and empty. It didn't look like Flay could even see the world around her. "Run!" Kira urged, backing away down the hill.

Flay took a few steps, stopped, almost fell, but kept moving. Slowly at first but with every passing step she seemed to gain courage, strength, and speed.

"Run! Run Flay Allster!" Kira shouted, his voice getting hoarse, and Flay did exactly that. She kept running until she was back on top of the hill and disappeared out of sight.

Kira smiled, his eyes filling with tears. "Yeah…keep going Flay." He didn't sob, but the tears kept coming, blinding him.

It was too much.

His home was attacked, he had almost gotten killed by a collapsing building, he'd dodged massive bullet shell casings, and now had watched all those innocent people disappear in an instant, like it was no big deal! He'd also hurt Flay. Kira had to push her to ignore the pain of losing her father and survive. He wasn't like this! He was Kira Yamato! Quiet and a little introverted. He was NEVER one to hurt people he cared for…

But…

Kira turned towards the rampaging GINNs. He was overlooking them on the hill and down below, Kira's eyes focused on something in the trailer. It was massive and grey. A mobile suit. The same type as the red one! Hadn't ZAFT come to steal these things? _Which means that they must be powerful._

How dare they? How dare ZAFT do this?! Life would never go back to how it was, but if he could stop Heliopolis from taking more damage…Kira stared at his hands, dirty and black, he could do it. He was a coordinator after all. For Flay, for his friends, for his _home_!

"_The Plant's and Earth will see eye to eye…there will be no war."_ The voice from Kira's past spoke, unbeckoned,

Kira glared at the GINN's in pure rage. _Athrun, I'm sorry, but you were wrong._

**Author's Note: **

**You will notice that Athrun and Kira did not run into each other in the hanger. Meaning that neither knows about each other's whereabouts or affiliations…for now…**

**I hope I am keeping things interesting for you readers! I always found the Heliopolis arc to be a little slow. So I am hoping to remedy that and keep things interesting!**

**As always, PLEASE REVIEW! It helps! Seriously! I cannot stress that enough! **


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